THOUSANDS OF SATELLITES

LINK TO LEOLABS: Over the years there has been significant rise in the number of satellites being sent into the Space, in order to gather accurate and relevant data useful to perform a range of missions such as scientific research, weather predictions, military support, Positioning, Navigation, Timing (PNT), Earth imaging, climate and environment monitoring, and communications. While the Covid pandemic brought many industries to a screeching halt, the satellite industry on the other hand, has hardly had any struggle to thrive. According to Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), which keeps a record of the operational satellites, there are 6,542 satellites, out of which 3,372 satellites are active and 3,170 satellites are inactive, as recorded by 1st January, 2021. However, according to the Index of Objects Launched into Outer Space, maintained by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, there were 7,389 individual satellites in S